Cooking With Coulee
by Veemo-er
Summary: Coulee Teaches Polli and Arven how to cook a special little dish


Cooking With Coulee

"Aaaaaaalright that is everything!"

Coulee looked around the kitchen of his apartment, clearly satisfied. All of the ingredients and tools were ready to go for his lesson. Tonight, he was going to be teaching his friends Polli and Arven how to cook his favorite dinner dish: Rigatoni Alfredo in a homemade sauce, with bay shrimp and muscles, steamed in garlic sauce. And since Coulee was very much known as the "chef" amongst his small group of friends, he was planning on giving them the lesson of a lifetime. He was even wearing his "kiss the afro" apron, which he was very proud of.

But then the Octoling turned his head towards _that_ drawer of the kitchen. It had been a few days since he had opened it, and he was starting to feel the urge to open it again.

_No, they'll be here soon. You can do it later…._

But his hand began to fidget, as he refused to take his eyes off the handle. It didn't help that his mouth was starting to water-

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Coulee gave a little yelp, as he realized that his friends had arrived.

"C-coming!" Pushing his previous thoughts aside, he opened the door, as Polli and Arven entered his apartment.

"Thanks again for the lesson Coulee." Said Polli.

"Yeah, thanks man!" Said Arven following up.

"Rima and I are getting a little tired of just ordering pizza."

"No prob guys, I'm always open to expand your knowledge in the kitchen." He responded with.

"Hehe, that's one way to put it." Said Polli in an amused tone.

"Alrighty, you two ready to get started?" He asked, as he clapped his hands excitedly.

"Yep."

"You betcha."

"Then let's get cracking!"

After explaining to them what they were gonna be cooking, Coulee began to give the first instructions. He made sure to go slowly and carefully for them. However, Polli was already running into troubles with the shrimp, and that was that she couldn't get the tails off properly.

"No no Polli, you gotta do it gently." He said supportively.

"I'm...trying! There's always a little bit of meat stuck in there!" She said, obviously struggling. Coulee picked up one of the shrimps, in order to demonstrate.

"You gotta get your fingers _under_ the tail, and then just slowly pop it off." He said, as he did it perfectly, before putting it in the bowl with the others. Repeating what he said under her breath, Polli did the same. And although it was still a little crude, it was clearly much better than the others. She gave a victory chuckle, as Coulee gave her a high-five.

He then made his way towards Arven. Despite being done with his shrimp, he was now having trouble with the garlic sauce. More specifically, the garlic itself. Although everything else was ready for sauteing it, he was having difficulties cutting it.

"Am I supposed to be cutting this in half or quarters Coulee?" He asked naively.

The Octoling couldn't help but chuckle at the Inkling's comment. He might be thick as a brick at times, but he was still a fun guy. Meanwhile, Arven was clearly confused by Coulee's reaction.

"Arven, you gotta slice the garlic into much much smaller pieces to saute them, like so."

He then got his own garlic, and sliced them into tiny pieces, before putting them on the pan. He looked back at Arven, and saw that his eyes had widened greatly.

"...oh." Was all he could say, clearly embarrassed. Coulee gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry bro, all cooks are like that at some point. You'll get it." He said with a smile.

"Coulee, Coulee! The shrimp are ready!" Polli exclaimed, as she jumped up and down, clearly proud of herself.

"That's awesome P! Nice job!" He responded with.

The Octo-gal couldn't help but snicker happily at his approval.

As the night rolled on, Polli and Arven continued to work away at their dishes, while Coulee continued to inspect them, and give them helpful tips. And yet every now and then, he couldn't help but glance at...the drawer. However, this was usually interrupted by one of the two asking a question. When the clock hit 7:30 PM, they were both ready to finish their meals, and put them in the oven. After preheating the oven, they both popped their dishes in, as the three began to wait.

"You mind if I ask you something Coulee?" Said Arven, as he turned to look at him.

"Oh not at all, go ahead."

"What was it that made you wanna start cooking?" He asked.

Coulee thought about it for a second, before answering.

"Well, to be honest, I've always been interested in cooking. Like how Galea seems to be in love with Callie."

"Yeah." Polli said, not really thinking about what he said.

"...wait, what?"

The two couldn't help but laugh in response, before Coulee continued.

"And well, food tastes good. Who wouldn't want to learn how to make their-"

But Coulee wasn't able to finish, because the oven had suddenly loudly exploded without warning. Polli gave a loud yelp, while Arven practically jumped five feet into the air, and Coulee's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. The three glanced at each other, before rushing over to the smoking oven. Coulee quickly opened it, as smoke came rushing out, resulting in them coughing. Once it cleared, they saw that the dishes were practically reduced to ash.

"W...the heck happened?!" Polli asked, completely bewildered.

Coulee then glanced at the dial, and saw that it was at 630 degrees.

"...Arven, I said 360 degrees."

"Ooooooooooh...that...makes so much more sense to be honest..."

The three said nothing for a few seconds, before breaking into hysterical laughter, while the smoke hung in the kitchen.

After another few hours of redoing the meals-and making sure the dial was at the right temperature-Polli and Arven finally finished. After wrapping them up, they began to prepare to head home.

"Thank you so much Coulee!" Said Polli, giving her friend a warm hug.

"No prob P."

"I can tell that Rima's gonna love this." Said Arven, as he gave him a fist bump.

"Trust me Arven, she will." He said, with no doubt in his voice.

After saying goodbye, the two left the apartment, leaving Coulee alone and satisfied.

_More happy customers_

He then glanced toward the drawer yet again, as he smirked.

_You know what, I deserve it_.

Grabbing a spoon, he opened the drawer, and took out a large bag. Opening it with ease, he put the spoon in and out, and ate the grains of rice that were upon it. He gave out a satisfied moan, as his taste buds jumped with joy, while he continued to hold the heavy bag. As he prepared to get another scoop, he looked towards his fridge.

_Y'know some soy sauce could be good with this..._


End file.
